The Watcher's Daughter
by pezgirl1
Summary: AU first season: Rupert and his daughter Willow Giles fly from England to Sunnydale to train the Slayer, Buffy. R&R please
1. Chapter 1

**The Watcher's Daughter**

AU Buffy: first season

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter one

Willow cringed as the heavy suitcase she was carrying banged her on the knee painfully, she rolled her eyes and growled irritably; she was usually very mild-tempered but the Jet-Lag made her temper less than mild. The headache that she could feel behind her eyes wasn't helping much either.

A man suddenly crashed into her and made her dropped her 'case; her head throbbed and her temper spiked up, she was about to glare at the man who hadn't even noticed what he'd done when her father put an arm around her shoulders; she felt herself relax immediately but she still felt angry.

"Willow, you know you shouldn't focus any negative emotions on people while you're upset," reprimanded her father firmly. "Look what happened to Rhiannon last year."

Willow looked a little ashamed and ran a hand through her short red hair; she glanced up at her dad and met his greenish-blue eyes which were behind glasses. "Sorry dad."

The brown-haired man smiled at his daughter warmly before giving Willow back her 'case, he had two 'cases himself and wished that the airport was less crowded; especially as his daughter wasn't at her best at that moment. The last time she had gotten angry, which seldom ever happened, she had sent a coven member flying through the air and into some bushes by accident.

The very same coven had been teaching Willow about magic and the power that she possessed, the power that she had tapped into and also the power that she hadn't yet.

She had been a witch since she was five, she had the power in her since she was conceived but the Watchers' Council had decided that letting her access the power inside her before she knew right from wrong would have disastrous consequences. Technically she shouldn't have started using her magic until she started Secondary School which was in England near to where she and her father lived. She had been a little older than the students in her year because of her intelligence. Most kids that started in Secondary School were ten to eleven years old she had been a year younger than everyone there.

American schooling was probably a little different though so she was staying with her own age-group: students age sixteen.

The year that she was in was sophomore…what a weird name. If she'd stayed in England she'd be in College by now.

But the fight against the forces or darkness was a lot more important; she had been raised to believe that, and with a Watcher for a father and a witch for a mother she had taken up the fight with enthusiasm and a little caution.

The reason why she had been using magic since the age of five was because they had been given little choice in the matter, a particularly nasty demon named Kadin had gained his own power by kidnapping magic-users and using a ritual to drain them of their power core. The ritual rarely ever killed the victim but the loss of magic had ghastly physiological effects on them; worse case scenario the victim slowly went insane, best case scenario they became very depressed and withdrawn; they also had a deep feeling of emptiness.

Kadin also had the ability to sense untapped power; he came after his daughter and tried to kidnap her, they had barely managed to get her away from the man. The cost had been dear. Several of the coven members had been either critically injured or killed, one of the casualties had been his wife- Willow's mother.

Willow's mother, Danielle, had been an extremely powerful woman who had managed to open a portal to another dimension but the opening had only managed to stay open for a minute or two which was barely enough time to send Kadin through. But it worked; the consequence was that Danielle hadn't recovered. Kadin's attack had already been close to killing her but she had used up her energy to send him away for good to a hell dimension where he would find very difficult to survive in.

Danielle had been protecting her daughter and before she had fought the warlock she had shielded her daughter's presence by making her invisible to not only his eyes but also to his magical senses. Fearing that her daughter would try to help her she had, guiltily, bound her physically with magic.

He had found his wife sprawled on the grass, blood coming from her nose, mouth and ears. She had managed to tell him where Willow was before going limp in his arms; swallowing back his grief and shock he'd unbound his daughter who was several feet away from her mother; tears streaming down her cheeks she had hugged her dad.

With the next few years filled with counseling they'd managed to deal with what had happened to them and what they'd witnessed; they had helped each other through it.

During the warlock's attack Willow had accessed her magic and had been close to unbinding herself, after that the Watchers' Council had stated that it would be impossible for the five-year-old to squash her power down until she was older; she would eventually use the power with or without their knowledge, it would be in everyone's best interest to start the training. Not just magical training but also the physical kind; a lot of witches control depends on their physical fitness, breathing control and how much control they have over their bodies.

As Willow and her father walked out of the Airport they felt the rush of hot American air and felt the blazing sun on their skin; the younger of the two winced as the sun shined in her eyes brightly making her head ache even more than it already was.

She jumped slightly as she felt something cover the crown of her head; she looked at her dad who was smiling after putting a sun hat on her head. She smiled slightly at him and looked around.

The streets were alive with people running around, cars and busses driving by and people on holiday or on business here like they were. Her dad pulled out a letter and read it quickly, then he looked around distractedly and handed her the letter.

He muttered something about the 'dreadfully sunny weather' and put his bags down relieving himself of the weight.

Willow, feeling bored, looked at the letter to skim-read…

_Mr Rupert Giles_

_The plane taking you and your daughter to North America, California in the USA will embark at four in the afternoon on Saturday 12__th__ July. _

_There will also be a car to take you and Miss Giles to your new house in the afternoon of the 13__th_

_Your job as librarian starts in September, the position has already been secured for you. Your daughter has been accepted in Sunnydale High School and will be entering as a student on the 10__th__ September at 9:00am on Monday._

_Mr Giles, your primary goal there is to locate and teach the new Slayer._

_The Council of Watchers'_

_Quentin Travers_


	2. Chapter 2

Willow walked up to the wardrobe and selected a pair of green jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt that had darker green patterns. She and her dad had already been in Sunnyhell for a week and although she had walked around outside she hadn't met anyone interesting, unless you count a couple of vampires but she doubted that they would show her around the school.

Willow had knew that tonight, and every other night, would be warm even hot so the shirt she was wearing was of a very thin material and if you looked closely was almost see-through though it wasn't obvious at all. You'd have to look pretty hard to tell that it was see-through.

She then grabbed some shoes while thinking about what her dad would say if he knew she was wearing the shirt; he'd probably polish his glasses, stammer slightly and give her a big, fat, black overcoat. She was daddy's little girl and she was sure that he'd throttle any guy who came into contact with her expecting more than a PG-rated night.

Smiling, she brushed out her bright red hair and walked out the door after grabbing a wooden stake and putting it in her purse along with a bottle of holy water and a wooden cross. Her dad was out looking for the Slayer again, he hadn't much success in the past week though that could be because the Slayer was settling into her new house with her mother.

As she walked to the Bronze she fingered her silver cross necklace feeling a twinge of sadness as she remembered her mom, she had died when Willow was little and she didn't remember a lot about her. She remembered a woman with red hair exactly like her own and a pair of warm emerald-green eyes just like hers, she remembered vaguely coming into her parents' bedroom- leaping up onto their bed and trying to read the newspaper they were reading. The memory faded after that.

Pushing the more-than-a-little sad feelings away she quickened her pace towards the night club, she didn't feel like fighting any vampires at that moment.

She flashed her ID at the bumper and headed inside the building, the music was loud and made the floor vibrate a little, or maybe that was the ton of feet bouncing around on the floors.

The redheaded witch shook her head in exasperation; this was great feeding ground for vampires, all that energy, the adrenaline, the excitement, the boiling blood rushing through their veins. Then there was the body heat, the club was like a beacon for vampires.

She sent out a stream of magic that probed every part of the club, she felt around magically for vampires or anything supernatural. No vampires.

She pulled back her magic and started exploring the club curiously, pushing her way through the crowds of teenagers; finally she ended up at a table which was empty except for two boys chatting animatedly to each other.

"Look Jess, there's no way that Super Girl could beat Cat Woman," one of the dark-haired boys was saying to the other. "She'd wipe the floor with Super Girl!"

Jesse shook his head, "No, no, no, there's no way that Super Girl would-

The other boy rolled his eyes, "You're just saying that 'cause you have a crush on her!"

Jesse's face went red with embarrassment, "That's got nothing to do with it, Xander!"

"Yeah, yeah," taunted Xander smirking at his buddy.

Jesse caught sight of her and smiled, "Hey!" he waved smiling goofily. "I haven't seen you around here."

Jesse looked at the redhead, she was pretty and looked friendly as she smiled at them; he waved her over to them. She walked over to their table and sat down; then she said, "I moved here a week ago with my dad."

Xander grinned, "Oooh, British accent!" he smiled wider as her lips quirked up into a smile. "I like British girls."

Jesse snorted, "Xander, you've never met British girls!" His friend could be such a dope sometimes…actually, most of the time.

Xander flushed with embarrassment and gave him a look, "Oh yeah," then he cocked his head slightly looking sarcastic, "Shut up."

Jesse rolled his hazel eyes at the boy and then looked at the girl, "He isn't scaring you, is he?" He wondered what her name was.

Xander looked indignant and said, "Hey!" Jesse just smirked at him.

Willow shook her head still smiling at the boys' antics, "No, I've seen crazier… people." Then she added as an afterthought, "My name's Willow Giles."

Jesse smiled, she had a pretty name. He shook his head slightly willing that thought to go away and introduced himself, "I'm Jesse McNally," he pointed to his friend. "This goofball is Xander Ha…Calendar."

Willow noticed that Xander's last name didn't roll of his tongue in the way that 'McNally' had. She'd think about that later.

"Are you in Sunnydale High school?" she asked hopefully. These guys looked interesting, fun and friendly; maybe they'd show her around school.

The boys nodded, "Sophomore." Jesse stated and then looked at her questioningly.

Willow caught the look and said, "We're in the same year, then."

"Looks like," nodded Xander then he looked surprised, "Whoa, did you say that you're last name was 'Giles'?"

Willow nodded curiously, "Yeah."

Xander grinned, "You're dad is the new librarian for Sunnydale High!" Jesse gave him a strange look.

"How can you know that?" asked Jesse looking surprised.

Xander gave him a 'Duh!' look and explained, "Mom's the computer teacher at High school."

Jesse looked sheepish, "Oh yeah, I forgot." Jenny Calendar was Xander's adoptive mother; because of her the boy hadn't had to put into a ton of foster homes after he was taken away from his parents Tony and Jessica Harris.

Those events leading up to Xander being taken from them had been hell, he could still remember what had happened even after it had been nine years since then.

Xander and Jesse didn't talk about it a lot but they were both glad that Mr. and Mrs. Harris were behind bars where they belonged.

Willow and Xander were looking at him, he tried to stop himself from blushing as he realized that he'd just zoned out. "Uh, what?"

"I was just saying that I was surprised that both of us have parent's working at the school, that's all," explained Willow.

Jesse berated himself for looking like an idiot in front of her, then he said, "Oh." Then he continued. "Well, I'm…surprised too."

Well done, Jesse cringed slightly as the voice in the back of his head clapped slowly and sarcastically at him.

Willow just turned back to Xander and asked, "Do you know where I can get a drink?"

Xander jumped off the stool he was sitting on and mock-bowed, "I will take you there, milady."

Willow smiled and said, "Thank you, kind sir!"

Xander turned to Jesse who looked like he was telling himself off, "Jess, we'll be back in a minute."

Jesse nodded distractedly and continued frowning slightly.

Willow and Xander walked off talking animatedly to each other, pushing through the crowds of teenagers to get to the counter.

She was glad that she'd found these two to show her around school, she didn't know what the others were like.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Watcher's daughter chapter three**

Several weeks after meeting Xander and Jesse the redheaded witch was walking around Sunnydale cemetery at night, she smirked sardonically and said quietly, "Some kids are clubbing, some are getting drunk and some are in their beds sleeping. Me, I'm in a village of dead people waiting for a vampire to climb out of the ground. "I'm so weird."

She twirled the stake around in her hands while waiting for the undead to rise.

Her hair was lacking its usual fiery-red colour and was now replaced with jet-black; her eyes were dark brown almost black. It was a simple glamour that she cast so that she'd be more camouflaged and discreet; she wanted to take the vampires by surprise.

If she were in England at this time and in a cemetery she'd be soaked through to the skin by the almost constant rain showers, maybe America weather wasn't so bad; even if the sun did make her eyes and head ache a bit.

Usually she'd have to wear an anorak even if it wasn't raining but she got to wear light clothing which she was happy about, she wore black trouser ('Pants' in America) and a navy-blue short sleeved top.

She scuffed her black boots against the ground with boredom, looking at a gravestone she rolled her eyes, she knew that a vampire was under there but he wasn't moving; so she had to wait until he did.

"Come on," groaned the witch looking restless. "Wakey, wakey rise 'n' shine!"

Willow looked at the ground but the earth remained still and undisturbed, "Damn."

Willow whipped around fast as she heard rapid footsteps coming towards her from behind, she saw-

"Hi, what're you two doing here?" she asked looking a little surprised.

Xander grinned a little, "Mom didn't need me there after all!" Jesse nodded in agreement then he looked at Willow.

"Your hair's all black," he said looking intrigued and anxious. "You're not a vampire are you?"

Willow grinned looking amused, "I might be." He gulped nervously.

"Nah, just kidding," she reassured him. "My hair's black because I'm too noticeable to vampires when it's red."

Jesse and Xander nodded in acknowledgment.

Jenny Calendar had wanted both Xander and Jesse to help her with the computers; they had both been reluctant but had gone to help anyway after Willow had said that she could watch her own back.

The two teenagers had found out about their new friend's nightly activities and her dad had reluctantly let them help.

Willow had nagged and badgered her father to train them incase they really had to fight to survive. They had both been training for the last few weeks and had enjoyed their self-defense classes immensely; her father had had to tell them three times to refrain from practicing their new skills on each other.

Their first fight together against a vampire had been intense and scary for the boys but interesting for Willow and her dad; they were trying to find their team dynamic and how to work together. Xander and Jesse helped research, but the latter teenager seemed to have a knack for memorizing names of demons. She used her laptop and the internet to search for information on demons.

"So, how's the vamp fighting?" asked Jesse looking around for some action.

Willow sighed, "What 'vamp-fighting'?" The boys looked confused so she explained. "I think the vampires have taken a holiday."

She pointed to the grave in front of them and said, "There's a vampire that's SUPPOSED to be up and biting by now but I think that its decided to sleep in."

Xander looked surprised, "They sleep?" He looked from Willow to Jesse. "Do they sleep in coffins?"

Willow snorted, "No, they don't. You shouldn't listen to everything the TV says about vampires, most of it isn't true."

"Noted," stated Xander in mock-seriousness.

Willow smiled slightly at her friend's quip, she looked at the undisturbed grave again and prodded the dirt with the toe of her right boot. Nothing happened.

She pinched the bridge of her nose slightly- a habit she'd gotten from her dad, "This is going to be a long, long night."

She decided to hand her friends a stake each and told them to pay attention incase anything decided to jump them from behind.

"Where's G-Man?" asked Xander just noticing that the man wasn't present.

Willow replied, "He chased a vampire over in that direction about ten minutes ago," she pointed to their left. "He'll be back at any minute."

Xander looked concerned, she noticed this look and said, "He doesn't need my help, he told me to watch this grave for the next vampire."

Both Xander and Jesse nodded in acceptance while Willow tried to push her anxiety down- her dad had told her to stay and she would.

A few minutes later Willow gave up trying to be patient and held her right hand out, she jerked her hand up as she concentrated. The earth started rising up into the air and was discarded to the right hand side of the gravestone; it looked as if an invisible shovel and an equally invisible person was digging the grave up.

Xander and Jesse were only looking slightly perturbed by her magic, they'd almost grown used to the weirdness.

By the time the grave was half dug up a hand shot up through the dirt and started clawing its way to the surface. The witch smirked slightly, "Wakey, Wakey."

Jesse held his wooden cross out in front of him slightly and his right hand grasped the stake tightly. Xander was beside him looking a little scared as he clutched his stake and watch the undead thing climb out of the ground completely.

The vampire looked like he'd once been a Pizza boy with his slightly geeky looks, lanky form and a forehead splattered with acne. He looked at them hungrily, "You three are mine!"

Willow eyed him disdainfully, "But my heart belongs to daddy," the sarcasm was evident in her voice.

The vampire looked at the redhead and suddenly looked scared, "Witch," he stuttered.

Willow gave him an imitation of her father's 'Ripper' smirk, "Good guess," she said plastering a look of fake sadistic glee on her face.

The vampire turned tail and ran in the opposite direction, he didn't see the stake hurled at him but he did feel the sharp wood pierce his chest and wedge itself in his ribcage rupturing his unbeating heart. He disintegrated into dust with a yell and his dust particles were swept away by the wind in different directions.

Willow smirked and bounced on the balls of her feet, she went to collect her stake and left the two relieved-looking adolescents in her wake. She stooped down and scooped the stake up then she looked around for more vampires; she noted that her friends were walking towards her before she saw the earth below another gravestone was moving.

She caught her friends' eyes and gestured towards the grave which now had a hand, an arm and a head poking out of it; her friends nodded as they saw the semi-risen vampire.

The three teenagers circled the grave and the vampire, Willow looked at her friends, they were both concentrating on the vampire and they looked like they could fight relatively well after the weeks of training the got.

Willow knew that her friends would eventually have to fight vampires without her and her dad's help but she'd rather that they fought the thing where she could watch their backs and save their asses if they got into too much trouble. Better with her than without.

Willow nodded to herself, they had to learn sometime and this was about as safe as vamp-hunting could get; making up her mind she called to them.

"Xan, Jess!"

They looked at her questioningly for a second before watching the vampire who was now half out of his grave. They weren't looking at her, but she knew they were listening. Smart Moves.

"I think you two are ready to tackle this buy by yourselves".

Their eyes widened in fear and surprise. She noticed these looks and elaborated, "I'll be watching your backs, and I'll intervene if I think you can't handle it".

They looked a little less afraid and nodded affirmatively, readying themselves. They watched the now fully surfaced vampire with no small amount of caution.

The vampire, who had been listening to their conversation curiously was now grinning from filthy ear to filthy ear as he studied the two teens before him. "Aww, two presents …. All for me? He sneered menacingly.

Jesse hefted his stake still watching the undead guy in front of him, "Yup, come 'n' get 'em."

Without needing further encouragement the vampire launched himself at the two boys.

Willow felt anxious but didn't let it show on her face, she hoped that she wasn't making a mistake by doing this.

What if they weren't ready?

Willow shook herself mentally, if they got into trouble she'd pull them out of the fight without a second thought.

Just as she finished that thought the vampire had tackled Jesse to the ground harshly, she was about to send a ball of fire at the offender when Xander plunged his stake rather clumsily into the vampire's back.

The vampire raised its head and looked surprised, "Oh, shi-"

A few seconds after he was staked her became a cloud of dust which was blown away in the wind just like the other vampire's remains.

Willow saw Jesse stick his arm out in front of him as he lay on the ground; Xander grasped his hand and pulled him to his feet.

She ran up to them feeling concerned, "Jess, are you okay?" she asked looking worriedly at him; he had a split lip and his left elbow was scraped and dirty but he was still breathing so it could have been worse.

Jesse looked a little shaken but nodded, "Yeah, I-I'm okay."

Xander was starting to smile, "I staked a vampire, I am the Vampire Staker!"

Willow snorted with mirth while Jesse shook his head smiling, "Way to go, Xan," he said snickering.

"I mean, yeah, it was scary as hell but-"

The rest of Xander's sentence was cut off as he spotted something behind Willow. She spun around with a stake ready in her hand expecting to see another vampire. She smiled as she saw that it wasn't on. "Dad! You got the vampire then?"

Rupert Giles took in the slight of a slightly injured Jesse and a thrilled-looking Xander who was facing Willow. He nodded confirming his daughter's question and then said, "I do hope you were keeping an eye on them, young lady."

Willow looked indignant, "Of course I was!"

Xander and Jesse also had the same expression on their faces.

"Giles, we don't need anyone babysitting us," objected Jesse while his dark-haired friend just muttered to himself looking pissed off.

Bloody children, Giles sighed and then looked at his daughter steadily, "If you do something like this again make sure you're quick enough to pull them out of danger if it looks like the vampires are getting the upper hand."

Willow looked exasperated, "I know, dad."

Giles nodded, "I know you do, Willow, but anyone can make mistakes, even me. I just want to make sure that Xander and Jesse live to be at least twenty years old and that you don't have the deaths of two teenagers on your conscience."

"Oh," Willow mumbled in realization.

Giles took his glasses off his nose and started polishing them, "Children, we should call it a night and go home."

The teens nodded in agreement, "Yeah, my mom'll wonder were I've gone, she should be back home by now."

Jesse nodded agreeing, "Yeah, my mom'll be worried too," he continued. "Last time I stayed out late without telling her she phoned dad to see if I stayed at his house."

Xander looked incredulous, "You dad lives in Florida."

Jesse shrugged and looked a little guilty, "She panicked."

Giles put his glasses on his nose, "Yes, well, I guess we should be going then."

Giles and Willow walked the boys back to their houses and then went home.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Willow jumped onto a wall that was so low it only came up to her knees, she balanced herself by spreading her arms to the sides and then she pigeon-walked across it with vague enthusiasm. The night air blew her hair back from her face slightly and she was reminded of the days when she was in long pigtails, saying that her favourite colour was pink and thinking that the world was a safe place to- well, not safe, she hadn't felt safe since her mum had died. She had always felt safest when her parents were with her, even now when she only had A parent she still slept in a way that might be considered, by normal people, to be guarded- though to her it wasn't at all.

She wobbled slightly as she neared the end of the wall; she jumped off quickly and almost SAT on poor Jesse who had been walking with her for the past hour, she felt him jump slightly and gave him a sheepish look, "Sorry, almost fell."

Jesse shrugged, "Doesn't matter."

A scream sliced through the air, a flurry of alarmed birds burst from the trees near them, Willow and Jesse looked at each other and then took off running in the direction that the scream had come from. The trees and bushes flailed slightly in the stiff breeze as the two teens practically flew along the pavement, the whole street was deserted so they didn't have to worry about colliding with anyone.

The same scream echoed out from an alley to Willow's right, she gave her companion a look and saw that he knew what she was thinking; they ran towards the dark opening behind a closed shop. Suddenly Willow threw out her left arm, catching Jesse in the chest, they stopped.

"Will!" he whispered furiously. "What-

The redhead shushed him quickly, "Gotta check out the situation first, want to know what we're getting into and how many vamps there are." As she said this she peered around the corner and scanned the avenue carefully. "We got a group of vampires, about eight of them."

She heard Jesse swear quietly behind her, "Cover me with your crossbow, got it? Just stay here and let me do the work." She also heard the vampires teasing the girl.

"Why?"

"Eight vamps, Jess. Too many, maybe later when you've got more experience," with that said, she tightened her hold on her stake and ran in. By the time she got to the girl she had staked two of them in a surprise attack and found herself facing the other six of them.

"Little girl, interrupted our dinner," growled a vampire.

The group ignored the girl, Willow recognized her from a brief encounter in the 'Bronze'; her name was Cordelia, she knew that the girl was probably one of the popular, snobby people of Sunnydale High but she knew that she didn't deserve to die.

The undead group backed away from their potential dinner, the girl was cut and bruised but was otherwise unhurt; Willow looked at the vampires as they lunged at her. She brought the palm of her hand up into a vampire's nose, she felt the bone crunch and heard a scream of pain. A hand whipped across her face sending her flying backwards into the wall.

A snap of an unleashed bolt was heard and then one of the vampires disintegrated, the group's attention was altered and suddenly she knew that Jesse was now looking at five pissed off vampires; she shook her head to clear it and focused on getting to her feet.

She saw that the group had her friend pressed onto the ground, she changed her fighting tactics from non-magical fight to just using spells; "Incendio!" the felt a surge of triumph as the vampires screamed in pain and dusted. Then the triumphant feeling gave way to fear and dread as she saw that her friend wasn't moving; she ran to Jesse's limp form immediately and checked him over.

His shoulder was scratched up pretty badly, blood speckled the sleeve of his ruined shirt; his chin was smudged with red from a cut lip and on his neck was twin puncture wounds; oozing with blood.

Horrified, she grasped his shoulders and shook him, "Jesse! Oh, geez." She grabbed his arm and threw it over her shoulders; she dragged him up and moved towards the alley's opening. "Don't die."

She should have sent Jesse away, No! She should have used magic on the vampires. It would have been easier, Jesse wouldn't be hurt and she would've dusted them in a heartbeat. She always wanted to balance her fighting methods by using magic at times and just physical fighting at others; her dad had taught her to keep her options open and to not rely on one technique more or less than the other.

She should have chosen magic! Damn it! She wrenched her friend out of the alley and towards an empty car, she used her magic to whip the two front doors open before she placed Jesse into the passenger side. She ran to the other side of the car and got in.

"Don't know how to drive, yet," she mumbled to herself. She concentrated and the car suddenly jolted to life, if she couldn't drive herself it was better to use magic that way she didn't have the chance of pressing or pulling the wrong thing.

The car dismounted the curb and accelerated towards the nearest hospital; she and her dad had made sure to check out the hospitals so that they could find them easily when they needed help.

Willow groaned, "I wonder if dad will mind me stealing a car."


	5. Chapter 5

Watcher's daughter 5

Watcher's daughter 5

Willow growled in frustration as she observed the long line of traffic stretching from them into the distance; "Ugh, Jesse, does NOT have time for this!" she magically shut of the engine and then used her magic to levitate the vehicle from the ground and then over the cars in front of them; she ignored the open-mouthed stares of the people below them. "They'll forget or chalk it up to the stress of a bad day." Daft people.

She looked over to the passenger side of the car and saw that Jesse was starting to look really pale, "Hold on, we'll be there soon." She took a deep breath and concentrated on making the car fly faster.

It worked, she gripped the steering wheel tightly and was relieved when she saw the hospital building a block away from them; she flew the car down, still closing the distance between them and the building as they went. She didn't see any people noticing them land; which she supposed was just as well. She didn't want to explain a flying car to people if they decided to approach her about it.

She quickly turned to Jesse when the car hit solid ground, she saw that his face was paler than usual from loss of blood; she opened the door and jumped out, ran around to the other side and dragged him out. She turned and saw two off-duty nurses, both men, chatting with each other; she braced her friend's against her right arm and waved her other arm wildly, and bellowed "HEY! CAN I GET SOME HELP, HERE!?" she felt his body slipping from her arm and stumbled as she dragged him back up.

The nurses ran up to them immediately as they saw her struggling with the boy, one of them lifted Jesse from her arms and carried him into the hospital; Willow followed as the other nurse talked to her, "What happened?"

She hesitated for a second before saying, "Fork accident; he's lost a lot of blood." Despite how unbelievably ridiculous the explanation sounded the nurse fell for it. "Is he going to be alright?"

As they entered the building he turned to her, "I should think so." She followed him further in as he followed his partner; he glanced back and said, "You're gonna have to wait in the Waiting room." He pointed over to the left. "That way, there's also a phone in the room if you want to call anyone…like the victim's relatives."

Willow stopped following him, sighed and walked over to where the man had pointed; "'The victim.' Victim of trying to help me," she mumbled to herself sadly. As she entered the room she swallowed back the lump that had formed in her throat; she made a beeline for the phone and as she dialed her dad's number she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dad's right, I have to take better care of them." Why didn't she just tell Jesse to run away?

"Hello, Giles' residence," her dad's voice came over the line as he answered. She was lost for words; silence followed. "Hello?"

She cleared her throat, "Dad?" she hoped he didn't notice her tight her voice sounded. "I'm at the hospital."

"You're not hurt are you?" his concerned question brought a wave of guilt in her. "God, I knew I shouldn't have-

She half sobbed; half snorted, "It's not me, dad, it's Jesse." What was she supposed to say? "He's really hurt."

She heard her dad's sharp intake of breath, "How hurt?"

"He went with the doctors a few minutes ago," she explained. "He wasn't awake when he went with them…he was really pale; lost a lot of…um…blood." Silence followed this. "He followed me while I was checking the place over; vampires got him when we were helping that Cordelia girl." He was going kill her.

"How many vampires, Willow?" a warning tone hit her ears.

"Eight," she mumbled guiltily. She tried again to swallow the lump that wouldn't go away.

"EIGHT!?"

She cringed and ripped the receiver away from her ear as the loud yell assaulted her eardrums, she put the receiver back to her ear as he started talking to her again, quieter. "You let that boy fight eight vampires?" his voice was low and dangerous.

"Of course not!" spat Willow angrily, though she was a lot angrier at herself than her dad. "He was staying out of the way, covering me. I didn't think that the vampires would get by me." She really hadn't.

"Why was he there in the first place?!"

"He said he wanted to help me," she choked out, she felt her face burn. She added in a small voice. "I thought he was ready."

"Obviously, he wasn't."

Willow felt her eyes sting and burn with tears, she leant her left elbow against the phone box and pressed her now-closed eyes against the palm of the same hand; the other hand held the phone that was still pressed to her right ear, "God…." She grimaced slightly.

"Does Xander know? Jesse's parents?" he asked, a bit calmer.

"Not yet," she replied, her voice was slightly squeakier than usual. "I'll get in touch with them." What a mess. A small voice at the back of her head said that it would get messier if Jesse didn't pull through. A sickening dread clasped the redhead's heart.

"Yes, you will," said Giles deadpan. "I'll call Xander; do you know Jesse's mum's number?"

Head still against hand, she whispered, "Yes, dad."

"I'll see you in a bit, then," with that said, he hung up.

Willow looked at the receiver in her hand blankly, he hadn't waited for her to say 'bye'; the fleeting thought shot through her mind, followed by a stab of remorse and self-hatred. "What a thought," she muttered. "And when your friend's really hurt, too." She banged the receiver back onto its catch; her left arm lowered and folded on its position against the box, her other arm and then her head followed.

She sighed into her crossed arms and a beat later the room filled with the sound of a foot hitting a wall and then the coarse word of, "Shit!"


End file.
